The World Health Organisation (WHO) has released $3.9 million from its Contingency Fund for Emergencies and is establishing a continental Incident Management Support Team with Africa CDC to scale response to Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in DRC.
WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, said Monday at Africa CDC ministerial briefing that DRC national risk was raised to very high due rapid transmission and absence vaccines therapeutics rare Bundibugyo strain.
Ghebreyesus said the risk was raised to “very high” last Friday, citing rapid transmission and the absence of vaccines or therapeutics for the rare Bundibugyo strain, according to WHO assessment and official statements this week.
WHO is finalising multi-agency Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan aligned with national plans for DRC and Uganda as teams expand contact tracing treatment centres laboratories community engagement ongoing outbreak response efforts
He reported that “So far, 101 cases have been confirmed in DRC with 10 confirmed deaths. In Uganda, five cases and one death have been confirmed, linked to cross-border movement,” he said.
According to him, WHO assesses regional risk as high and global risk as low but warned bordering countries face high risk and should act immediately according to latest WHO update report.
He said response complicated by insecurity in Ituri and North Kivu provinces where fighting displaced more than 100,000 people in recent months ongoing humanitarian crisis affecting outbreak control and surveillance efforts seriously.
The boss said that two security incidents at health facilities were reported in the past week and distrust of outside authorities was hampering community-based interventions according to WHO field reports update.
He said building trust in affected communities was now one of WHO’s highest priorities to improve outbreak response effectiveness and community engagement across affected regions in DRC and Uganda urgently required.
“To address lack of countermeasures, WHO convened interim Medical Countermeasures Network last week and recommended prioritising two monoclonal antibodies for clinical trials,” he said according to WHO emergency response update report.
“The agency is also developing a trial for the antiviral obeldesivir as post-exposure prophylaxis for high-risk contacts in partnership with Africa CDC and the Collaborative Open Research Consortium on filoviruses research.
“Discussions are underway with partners on candidate vaccines in the pipeline,” he said.
He said evaluation of vaccine candidates and strengthening regional preparedness against Ebola outbreaks in DRC and Uganda was currently ongoing
Ghebreyesus said he would travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo on 26 May with Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, Executive Director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, to directly review ongoing response operations.
He also thanked President Yoweri Museveni for cancelling Uganda’s Martyrs’ Day commemoration, which attracted up to two million people, as a preventive measure against further spread of the outbreak.
“We are facing an extremely serious and difficult outbreak. It will get worse before it gets better.
“But we know this virus, and we know how to stop it. With unity under the leadership of the governments of DRC and Uganda, and in close partnership with Africa CDC and all partners, we will stop this outbreak.”
According to him, WHO credited the governments of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda for leading the response and said it remained fully committed to supporting them.
He urged neighbouring countries to strengthen surveillance, infection prevention and control, and readiness at points of entry to contain further spread.
